new to pigs need help

[love2farm]

I want to get a pig or two I have a spot that i think would work good it is 11
x8 covered. I want to know if this will work and can I put stall mats down to make it easy to clean please
help thanks

 

[jhm47]

Make sure your walls are extremely strong. Pigs will destroy and go through things that you cannot imagine. Concrete block walls are the best. Pigs will also root most mats away and get down to bare dirt where they can root to their little heart's content. Again, concrete works well. I would also suggest that you provide some kind of outside run where they can exercise and do "pig stuff" in the dirt and mud. It will also help to keep the inside space cleaner. Good luck!

 

[Royd Wood]

Stall mats will prob end up as piggy toys
My pigs enjoyed digging up the old barn floor 3" concrete (old and cracked) They dig so deep once they break up the first piece - saved me a job with the sledge hammer
Whats on the floor at the moment ??? - 11 x 8 is a nice size for them

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Pigs, despite what some folks think, are actually clean animals. Normally they will only go to the bathroom in one spot so if you give them some outside to play in you will probably find that that is where they go.

I agree, don't put down mats. There will be nothing left in a few days - just shredded bits & more work for you to clean up. Give them some nice straw or hay to make their bed. They will eat some of it & bed down in some so replenish it when needed.

Liz

 

[Cabinchick]

My pigs were housed in an old wooden shed and went through a few small bales of straw before freezer camp. As mentioned before, they did their business outside is one spot. Nice - wish my dogs would do that :/

Connie

 

[Teeah3612]

I am also thinking about getting a couple of piglets this spring and have some questions. I was thinking about using 16 foot cattle panels to make a yard for them. Would this be big enough for two? My thought was that we could move this around the pasture all summer and let them root up some old stumps and such while they were getting ready for freezer camp in the fall.

We could also fix up a moveable shelter for them to get in out of the weather.

Any suggestions on good breeds?

 

[animalfarm]

I am also thinking about getting a couple of piglets this spring and have some questions. I was thinking about using 16 foot cattle panels to make a yard for them. Would this be big enough for two? My thought was that we could move this around the pasture all summer and let them root up some old stumps and such while they were getting ready for freezer camp in the fall.

We could also fix up a moveable shelter for them to get in out of the weather.

Any suggestions on good breeds?

You would have to move them quite often to avoid ruining the pasture. There wouldn't be much room in there for a shelter but then I have large blacks and they take up a lot of space. For shelter I make hoop houses out of 2 cattle panels with plastic over the top. You can use bungie straps to hold it down and hook them on the bottom edges of the panels. For winter I use zip ties to hold plywood on the ends and stack some hay bales around the outside.

My piglets haven't read the book on good toilet habits. They poop inside and push all the bedding outside to sleep. Real PITB when there is freezing rain.

 

[Cornish Heritage]

My piglets haven't read the book on good toilet habits. They poop inside and push all the bedding outside to sleep. Real PITB when there is freezing rain.

LOL! Alot of our LB's pigs will sleep out under the stars if the weather is nice but they do not poop in their shelter.

As to moving cattle panels that is a lot of work & you would be better IMO training them to electric wire. When the piglets are real little electric netting works best & one roll would do the job. Move them at least every 7 days. Once they are bigger then graduate them to 3 wire electric & then two.

How much they root depends on the breed! Do your research & don't always believe what the breeder tells you. Go check out his pastures! The most important thing though is to buy from someone who is raising pigs like you want to. Do not purchase a "confinement" pig & expect it to thrive on pasture. It will not! Just like we will not sell to folks who want to raise pigs in confinement. We know our pigs (Large Blacks) do not do well in confinement so we politely tell them to look elsewhere to get something suitable for their situation. Pigs that have been raised in confinement many times have had the grazing genetics bred out of them.

If you are raising for meat then I suggest a cross breed as they have what is known as "Hybrid Vigor" meaning they will grow faster. If you are wanting to grow up some breeding stock then buy the best you can afford. For good pastured crosses I would recommend Black Wattles (Large Black, Red Wattle) or Blackworths (Large Black, Tamworth). We have personally raised Black Wattles here in the past & have been very pleased with the end result. I have also heard alot of good things about the Blackworths.

All the best,

Liz

 

[Cornish Heritage]

Just remembered another option on pasturing is to create a TIC TAC TOE board on your allotted pasture. Have the living/feeding area in the center square & then let them into each of the other 8 squares on a rotational sequence.

We use 5' x 7' Porta Huts for shelters which are easy to move. We used to create hoop houses out of cattle panels & tarps but they are not as warm/sheltered and they are a total pain to move.

Liz